Financial sector assessment programme

New Zealand is scheduled to undergo an assessment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this year under the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FASAP). The FSAP is a relatively new surveillance and assessment programme developed and jointly managed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. It is designed to assess the potential vulnerabilities in a country's financial system and to evaluate the adequacy of financial sector regulation and supervision, using international standards and codes as benchmarks, as well as a number of other analytical tools. There is an expectation that all IMF member countries will undergo an FSAP assessment periodically. New Zealand has volunteered to be assessed this year. This article explains the FSAP and discusses the key elements within it. Later this year and in 2004, the Bulletin will include articles that draw from our experience of the FSAP and the work being undertaken by the Reserve Bank and other government agencies in preparation for it. Indeed, the article on the New Zealand payment system in this issue of the Bulletin is one of these, and makes considerable reference to FSAP-related work in the area of the payment system.